The Churn
Digest
The Global Story podcast delves into the complex issue of mental illness and homelessness in the US, focusing on the stories of two individuals, Adam Urand and Lou Middleton. Adam, diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder, faced a cycle of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration. His story highlights the challenges of deinstitutionalization, a policy that aimed to move people with mental illness out of large psychiatric hospitals and into community-based settings. However, the lack of funding and resources for community care, coupled with the realization that anti-psychotic drugs were not a cure, led to the failure of this approach. Lou Middleton's story offers a different perspective, showcasing his journey towards recovery through medication, housing, and support groups. He learned to manage his auditory hallucinations and developed a positive relationship with them. The podcast concludes by discussing a new plan in King County, Washington to address the mental health crisis by building new crisis centers and expanding psychiatric hospital beds. This plan emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive and effective approach to mental health care, recognizing the limitations of previous strategies.
Outlines
Mental Illness and Homelessness in the US
This podcast explores the challenges of mental illness and homelessness in the US, highlighting the stories of two individuals, Adam Urand and Lou Middleton, and the failures of deinstitutionalization.
Adam's Story: A Cycle of Mental Illness and Homelessness
This chapter introduces Adam Urand, a man with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder who struggled with homelessness and addiction. It highlights his commitment to Western State Hospital and subsequent discharge.
Deinstitutionalization and the Mental Health Crisis
This chapter explores the history of deinstitutionalization in the US, starting with President Kennedy's vision for community-based mental health care. It examines the challenges and failures of this approach, including the lack of funding and resources for community care.
Lou's Story: Navigating Mental Illness and Finding Recovery
This chapter tells the story of Lou Middleton, a man who experienced psychosis and homelessness. It highlights his journey towards recovery, including his experience with medication, housing, and support groups.
A New Approach to Mental Health Care
This chapter discusses the new plan in King County, Washington to address the mental health crisis by building new crisis centers and expanding psychiatric hospital beds. It emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive and effective approach to mental health care.
Keywords
The Global Story
A daily news podcast from the BBC World Service that provides in-depth coverage of one major international news story each weekday.
Western State Hospital
Washington's largest psychiatric hospital, located in Lakewood, Washington. It provides inpatient psychiatric care for adults with severe mental illness.
Deinstitutionalization
The process of moving people with mental illness out of large, state-run psychiatric hospitals and into community-based settings.
Schizophrenia
A chronic mental illness that affects a person's ability to think, feel, and behave clearly. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking.
Bipolar Disorder
A mental illness characterized by extreme mood swings, including periods of mania and depression.
Auditory Hallucinations
Hearing voices or sounds that are not real.
Crisis Mental Health Centers
Facilities that provide immediate care for people experiencing a mental health crisis. They offer a range of services, including assessment, stabilization, and referral to other services.
Q&A
What is the main focus of The Global Story podcast?
The Global Story podcast focuses on providing in-depth coverage of one major international news story each weekday, featuring insights from BBC journalists.
What challenges did Adam Urand face in his struggle with mental illness and homelessness?
Adam Urand faced a cycle of homelessness, addiction, and incarceration due to his mental illness. He was committed to Western State Hospital but was discharged despite his family's concerns.
What were the main reasons for the failure of deinstitutionalization in the US?
Deinstitutionalization failed due to a lack of funding and resources for community-based mental health care, as well as the realization that anti-psychotic drugs were not a cure for mental illness.
How did Lou Middleton navigate his mental illness and find recovery?
Lou Middleton found recovery through a combination of medication, housing, and support groups. He learned to manage his voices and developed a positive relationship with them.
What is the new plan in King County, Washington to address the mental health crisis?
King County is building five new crisis mental health centers and expanding psychiatric hospital beds to provide more comprehensive and effective mental health care.
Show Notes
Adam Aurand spent nearly a decade of his life stuck in a loop: emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, jails, prison, and the streets in and around Seattle.
During that time, he picked up diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder. He also used opioids and methamphetamine.
Aurand’s life is an example of what happens to many people who experience psychosis in the U.S.: a perpetual shuffle from one place to the next for visits lasting hours or days or weeks, none of them leading to longer-lasting support.
This week on Reveal, reporters who made the recent podcast Lost Patients, by KUOW and The Seattle Times, try to answer a question: Why do America’s systems for treating serious mental illness break down in this way?
The answer took them from the present-day streets of Seattle to decades into America’s past.
You can find Lost Patients wherever you get your podcasts:
NPR: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510377/lost-patients
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lost-patients/id1733735613
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1avleoc5U4DA7U37GFPzIH
- Support Reveal’s journalism at Revealnews.org/donatenow
- Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get the scoop on new episodes at Revealnews.org/weekly
Take our listener survey
Table of contents
United States
